Denver, CO — March 4, 2022 — Over the last several years, The North Face^® (TNF) has achieved many milestones in their digital transformation of B2B wholesale product launch and go to market sales efforts. They were one of the first outdoor brands to eliminate print catalogs and go entirely digital. Although an impressive achievement, the digital catalog utilized mostly 2D sample line drawings. Since then, TNF has been challenged to produce compelling digital assets at quality that also were built to move through the entire ecommerce lifecycle.

The challenge
Given TNF’s compressed production and content creation timelines, they needed to maximize every possible opportunity between product arrivals and sales launch while simultaneously addressing demand from the sales team for higher caliber wholesale selling tools and better content across the full product line. Knowing the upside benefits better assets has on sales, TNF was looking to be one of the first brands to effectively integrate video and interactive into the wholesale e-commerce experience. And like all brands, TNF was looking to increase quality of their digital assets while simultaneously leveraging opportunities for cost savings.

The solution
ShowLabs’ visual commerce solution, customized production process, and individualized client workflow provided TNF the opportunity they needed to produce high-quality, on-model video and photography within the incredibly tight time windows between product arrival and seasonal sales launch. In addition, ShowLabs’ certified content partnership with Elastic Suite (a market leading B2B ecommerce platform used by The North Face) allowed for direct ecommerce platform integration and a unique product video viewing experience for The North Face’s retail accounts. This partnership helped support a same-day “shoot-to-site” workflow in which ShowLabs delivered final videos and photography directly into TNF’s Elastic e-commerce platform. From there, TNF could seamlessly review and push assets directly into their production site.

The results
ShowLabs helped TNF meet its expectation of elevating their B2B asset catalog by delivering 985 high-quality digital assets — a mix of on-model, on mannequin images, on-model video, and tech videos — in six days. The improvement in quality and asset variety brought their retail accounts closer to the new product lines and equipped the sales team with an all-around better sales toolkit. Moreover, TNF increased their content production by 3X with ShowLabs including the addition of new interactive 360 degree photography for footwear and equipment.

ShowLabs was built to help brands, like The North Face, solve their content crises — providing solutions that empower brands to deliver content their audiences are demanding — faster, better, and in a way that captivates and engages them. ShowLabs produces photography, 3D, mixed reality, interactive photography, and video that are created at high volume without sacrificing quality. All of this is done on the back of an AI-powered software platform that can manage those assets through the entire commerce lifecycle.

“Partnering with ShowLabs allowed us to meet and exceed our vision for truly elevated content creation,” said Pat Fitzmaurice, Senior Director, Sales Operations. “Their speed, versatility and drive to innovate is what sets them apart from anything else we’ve seen in the market.”

The partnership between ShowLabs and The North Face has been renewed for next season and promises to continue delivering captivating content that resonate with the entire trade while piquing interests, and reinforces the attention to detail and high-quality product features that have made TNF a dominant force in the outdoor industry and beyond.

About ShowLabs

Founded in April 2021, ShowLabs is a revolutionary visual commerce solution, providing brands with both an innovative visual content studio, capable of producing high-quality visual assets at neck-breaking speeds, and an AI-powered software platform, capable of manipulating, managing and distributing those assets across the entire digital and virtual ecommerce ecosystem. ShowLabs’ solutions solve the content production bottlenecks most brands face within their digital asset supply chains. Customers benefit from increased productivity, high volume asset creation, a full-spectrum of innovative content types, and deployment productivity and insights. Based in Denver, Colorado, ShowLabs supports customers worldwide. Learn more at https://showlabs.com.

About The North Face

The North Face, a division of VF Outdoor, LLC, was founded in 1966 with the goal of preparing outdoor athletes for the rigors of their next adventure. Today we are the world’s leading outdoor brand, creating athlete-tested, expedition-proven products that help people explore and test the limits of human potential. We protect our outdoor playgrounds and minimize our impact on the planet through programs that encourage sustainability. The North Face products are available at premium and specialty retail sporting goods stores globally and is headquartered in Denver, Colorado. For more information, please visit www.thenorthface.com